wire / 2026-10-18-7fdb
AI Deepfakes Used to Impersonate Chinese Celebrities in Livestream Scams
WeChat permanently banned the account selling products with a deepfaked Deng Yaping. Making another account takes somewhat less effort than winning Olympic gold.
The facts
AI-generated deepfake videos and audio impersonating Chinese celebrities, including Wu Yue and Deng Yaping, were used on WeChat Video accounts to fraudulently promote products and scam consumers. The platform permanently banned the offending account, but the incident highlights ongoing risks of AI misuse for identity theft and fraud in China.